The  North  Carolina  Booklet 


Vol.  XVI  JULY,  1916  No.  1 


William  Alexander  Graham 


By  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 


William  Alexander  Graham,  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  Governor  of  ISForth  Carolina,  Secretary  of  the 
United  States  IS^avy,  Senator  of  the  United  States  and  also 
of  the  Confederate  States,  nominee  of  the  Whig  Party  for 
the  Vice  Presidency,  was  born  at  Vesuvius  Furnace,  the 
residence  of  his  father.  General  Joseph  Graham,  in  Lincoln 
County,  North  Carolina,  5  September,  1804.  He  sprung 
from  that  sturdy  Scotch-Irish  race  which  has  furnished  so 
many  prominent  men  to  the  Republic.  His  mother  was 
Isabella,  daughter,  of  Major  John  Davidson,  who  was  one  of 
the  signers  of  the  famous  "Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence'-' at  Charlotte  on  20  May,  1775,  of  which  John 
Adams  wrote:  "The  genuine  sense  of  America  at  that 
moment  was  never  so  well  expressed  before  nor  since." 

The  father  of  Governor  Graham,  General  Joseph  Graham, 
merits  more  than  a  passing  notice.  At  18  years  of  age  he 
entered  the  Continental  Army  in  1778,  soon  became  Adjutant 
and  was  promoted  to  Major  of  l  ISTorth  Carolina  (Conti- 
nental) Regiment.  He  was  in  many  engagements  and  was 
often  wounded.  At  the  capture  of  Charlotte  by  Cornwallis 
26  September,  1780,  he  received  nine  wounds  (six  of  them 
with  sabre)  and  was  left  on  the  ground  for  dead.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Convention  of  1788  and  also  of  1789, 
served  in  several  legislatures  and  in  the  war  of  1814  com- 
manded a  brigade  from  this  State  and  South  Carolina  sent 
by  President  Madison  to  the  aid  of  General  Jackson  in  the 
Creek  War.  William  A.  Graham  was  the  youngest  son  in  a 
family  of  seven  sons  and  three  daughters  who  gTcw  to  iria- 


4  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

turity.  One  of  his  brothers,  James  Graham,  was  a  member 
of  Congress  from  this  State,  continnonsly  from  1833  to  1847, 
except  one  term.  One  of  his  sisters  married  Rev.  Dr.  R.  H. 
Morrison,  President  of  Davidson  College,  and  was  the  mother 
of  the  wife  of  Stonewall  Jackson. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  began  his  academic  education 
under  Rev.  Dr.  Muchat,  at  Statesville,  a  scholar  of  repute. 
Thence  he  was  sent  to  Hillsboro,  where  he  was  prepared  for 
college.  He  entered  the  University  of  North  Carolina  in 
1820.  At  school  and  college  he  envinced  the  characteristics 
which  distinguished  him  in  later  life — studious,  thoughtful, 
courteous,  considerate  of  others,  with  great  natural  dignity 
of  manner,  and  marked  ability.  His  schoolmate,  Judge  Bre- 
vard, said  of  him  at  this  early  age:  "He  was  the  only  boy 
I  ever  knew  who  would  spend  his  Saturdays  in  reviewing  the 
studies  of  the  week."  He  graduated  in  1824  with  the  highest 
honors  of  his  class,  which  he  shared  with  Matthias  E.  Manly, 
afterwards  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

After  a  tour  of  the  Western  States,  made  on  horseback, 
as  was  then  the  most  convenient  and  usual  mode,  he  began 
the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Ruffin,  at  Hillsboro, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1826.  Though  his  family 
connections  were  numerous  and  influential  in  Mecklenburg, 
Cabarrus  and  Lincoln,  he  decided  to  locate  at  Hillsboro, 
among  whose  resident  lawyers  then  were  Thomas  Ruffin, 
Archibald  D.  Murphey,  Willie  P.  Mangum,  Francis  L. 
Hawks,  and  Frederick  Nash;  and  among  the  lawyers  regu- 
larly attending  from  other  courts  were  George  E.  Badger, 
William  H.  Haywood  and  Bartlett  Yancey.  At  this  bar  of 
exceptionally  strong  men,  he  quickly  took  first  rank. 

In  1833  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly 
from  the  Town  of  Hillsboro,  one  of  the  boroughs  which  up 
to  the  Convention  of  1835  retained  the  English  custom  of 
choosing  a  member  of  the  legislature.  It  is  related  that  he 
was  chosen  by  one  majority,  the  last  vote  polled  being  cast 
by  a  free  man  of  color,  this  class  being  entitled  to  the  fran- 


WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  GRAHAM  0 

chise  till  the  Constitution  of  1835.  Being  asked  why  he  voted 
for  Mr.  Graham,  the  colored  voter,  a  man  of  reputation  and 
some  property,  replied :    ''I  always  vote  for  a  gentleman." 

His  first  appearance  on  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives was  on  a  motion  to  send  to  the  Senate  a  notice  that 
the  House  was  ready  to  proceed  to  the  election  of  a  Governor 
for  the  State,  and  to  place  in  nomination  for  that  office, 
David  L.  Swain,  who  had  been  his  college  mate  at  the 
University  of  Korth  Carolina.  Two  days  later  he  had  the 
satisfaction  to  report  his  election,  and  was  appointed  first  on 
the  committee  to  notify  him  of  his  election.  The  relations 
of  these  two  distinguished^  men  remained  singularly  close 
and  cordial  through  life.  In  1834  and  again  in  1835  he 
was  re-elected  for  the  borough  of  Hillsboro,  and  at  both  ses- 
sions he  was  Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  then  as 
now,  deemed  the  highest  position,  next  to  the  Speaker.  In 
1838,  as  Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  he  submitted 
the  report  of  the  Commissioners  who  had  prepared  the 
"Revised  Statutes."  • 

It  was  to  him  that  in  1834  Judge  Gaston,  who  was  a 
Roman  Catholic,  addressed  his  open  letter  in  defence  of  his 
acceptance  of  a  seat  upon  the  Supreme  Court,  notwithstanding 
the  provision  in  the  old  Constitution  (repealed  by  the  Con- 
vention of  1835)  which  declared  incapable  of  holding  office 
all  those  who  "deny  the  truths  of  the  Protestant  religion." 
With  all  deference  to  the  writer  thereof  whose  name  will 
always  command  the  highest  respect,  that  letter  will  remain 
a  plausible  instance  of  special  pleading  whose  defective  logic 
has  been  pardoned  by  reason  of  the  inherent  opj^osition  of 
all  generous  minds  to  the  constitutional  provision  which  gave 
rise  to  it,  and  the  eminent  public  services,  ability  and  popu- 
larity of  its  author. 

In  1838  and  again  in  1840,  Mr.  Graham  was  elected  to 
the  General  Assembly  from  Orange  County,  and  was  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  both.  The  journals,  dur- 
ing his  legislative  career,  attest  his  great  industry  and  his 


6  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

leadership.  He  introduced  the  first  bill  that  was  passed  to 
establish  a  system  of  common  schools,  and  the  bills  introduced 
or  supported,  or  reported  by  him  on  the  subjects  of  banking, 
finance,  education,  and  internal  improvements,  demonstrate 
the  broadness  of  his  views,  and  that  he  was  one  of  the  most 
progressive  men  of  his  time. 

In  1840,  Judge  Strange  and  Hon.  Bedford  Brown,  the 
United  States  Senators  from  this  State,  resigned  their  seats 
rather  than  obey  instructions  which  had  been  passed  by  the 
General  Assembly.  Willie  P.  Mangum,  of  Orange,  was 
chosen  to  succeed  Brown,  and  though  Mr.  Graham  was  from 
the  same  county  and  only  36  years  of  age,  he  was  elected  to 
fill  Mr.  Strauge's  unexpired  term.  This  was  a  most  emphatic 
testimonial  to  his  commanding  position  in  the  Whig  Party, 
which  held  so  many  eminent  leaders,  and  in  the  State  at  large. 
He  was  among  the  youngest,  if  not  the  youngest  member,  of 
the  United  States  Senate,  when  he  took  his  seat.  He  com- 
manded the  respect  and  attention  of  that  body  upon  all  occa- 
sions, and  we  are  told  by  a  member  of  that  Congress  that 
"Mr.  Clay  regarded  him  as  a  most  superior  man,  socially 
and  intellectually." 

The  time  of  Mr.  Graham's  service  in  the  Senate  was  a 
stormy  period.  President  Harrison,  who  had  gone  into  office 
upon  a  tidal  wave,  died  just  one  month  after  his  inauguration, 
and  was  succeeded  by  the  Vice-President,  Mr.  Tyler,  who  soon 
placed  the  administration  in  complete  opposition  to  the  poli- 
cies of  the  party  by  which  he  had  been  elected.  Upon  all  the 
most  important  measures  which  came  before  the  Senate,  Mr. 
Graham  impressed  himself  by  arguments  which  received 
general  approbation  and  which  drew  forth  specially  com- 
mendatory letters  from  Clay,  Webster,  Chancellor  Kent,  aial 
others. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  term  in  March,  1843,  Mr.  Gra- 
ham resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession,  the  Democratic 
Party  having  secured  a  majority  in  the  General  Assembly 
and  chosen  a  member  of  that  party,  William  H.  Haywood, 


WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  GRAHAM  i 

Jr.,  to  succeed  him  in  the  Senate.  In  1844  he  was  nomi- 
nated by  the  Whig  Party  for  Governor.  He  had  not  sought 
nor  desired  the  nomination.  The  salary  of  the  office  was 
small  and  its  expenses  great.  In  1836  he  had  married  Susan 
Washington,  daughter  of  John  Washington  of  New  Bern,  a 
lady  of  great  beauty  of  character  and  person,  and  a  young 
and  growing  family  made  demands  upon  his  income,  which 
was  impaired  by  the  inroads  which  public  life  had  made 
upon  his  law  practice.  But  true  as  always  to  the  calls  of 
duty,  he  yielded  to  the  representations  of  gentlemen  of  high 
standing  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  His  Democratic  competi- 
tor was  Hon.  Michael  Hoke,  like  himself,  a  native  of  the 
county  of  Lincoln.  Mr.  Hoke  was  about  the  same  age,  of 
fine  presence,  decided  ability  and  great  popularity.  After 
a  canvass  whose  brilliancy  has  had  no  parallel  in  the  history 
of  the  State,  save  perhaps  that  between  Vance  and  Settle  in 
1876,  Mr.  Graham  was  elected  by  a  large  majority.  His 
competitor  died  a  few  weeks  after  the  election,  his  death 
having  been  caused,  it  was  thought,  by  the  great  physical 
and  mental  strain  of  the  campaign.  On  1  January,  1845, 
Governor  Graham  was  sworn  in,  with  imposing  ceremonies, 
which,  for  brilliancy  and  the  size  of  the  audience;,  were  till 
then  without  precedent. 

His  inaugural  address  was  especially  noteworthy,  not  alone 
for  its  purity  of  style  and  elevation  of  thought,  but  in  its 
recommendations.  The  Asylum  for  the  Insane,  and  for  the 
Deaf,  Dumb  and  Blind,  and  the  Emmons  Geological  Survey 
all  had  their  genesis  in  this  Inaugural,  the  first  two  being 
established  by  laws  enacted  during  his  administration  and 
the  latter  just  afterwards.  He  also  laid  special  emphasis 
upon  the  Common  School  System,  then  lately  inaugurated, 
and  the  first  act  in  favor  of  which  had  been  introduced  by 
himself  when  a  member  of  the  legislature.  Mr.  Webster  in 
a  letter  specially  commended  the  address  for  its  wisdom  and 
progressiveness,  as  did  Prof.  Olmsted  for  its  recommenda- 
tion in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  a  Geological  Survey. 


8  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

His  aid  to  our  new  and  struggling  railroads  built  bj  State 
aid  was  invaluable. 

In  1849  he  delivered  the  address  before  the  Literary  Socie- 
ties at  the  University.  This  address  remains  to  this  day  one 
of  the  very  best  of  the  long  series  delivered  since  the  incipi- 
ency  of  the  custom.  Upon  the  success  of  his  party  in  the 
election  of  President  Taylor,  Senator  Mangimi,  one  of  the 
confidential  advisers  of  the  new  administration,  wrote  Gov- 
ernor Graham  that  he  could  make  his  choice  between  the  Mis- 
sion to  Russia  and  the  Mission  to  Spain.  Subsequently  the 
Mission  to  Spain  was  tendered  him  and  declined. 

Upon  the  accession  of  President  Fillmore,  Mr.  Graham  was 
tendered  the  appointment  of  Secretary  of  the  Xavy  in  a  very 
complimentary  letter  from  the  President,  who  urged  his 
acceptance.  In  July,  1850,  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of 
the  office.  Such  was  his  diligence  that  his  first  report,  30 
K|ovember,  1850,  embraced  a  review  of  the  whole  naval  estab- 
lishment with  recommendations  for  its  entire  reorganization. 
Even  an  opposition  Senator,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  joined  in 
the  commendation  of  his  report,  and  wrote  with  special 
reference  to  the  Coast  Survey  service:  "I  consider  it  one 
of  the  most  perfect  reports  I  ever  read — a  model  of  a  business 
report  and  one  which  should  carry  conviction  to  every  candid 
inquiring  mind.  I  deem  it  one  of  the  largest  reforms,  both 
in  an  economical  and  administrative  point  of  view,  which  the 
state  of  our  affairs  admits  of." 

His  administration  of  the  Navy  Department  was  marked 
by  one  of  the  most  remarkable  enterprises,  whose  success  has 
been  of  world  wide  importance — the  organization  of  the  Perry 
Expedition  to  Japan,  which  opened  up  that  ancient  empire 
to  modern  civilization.  The  success  of  that  expedition  con- 
stitutes one  of  the  principal  claims  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  adminis- 
tration to  the  admiration  of  posterity  and  was,  indeed,  an 
era  in  the  history  of  the  world,  of  which  the  events  of  the 
last  few  years  are  striking  results.  The  exi^edition  was  con- 
ceived and  inaugurated  by  Mr.  Graham  and  was  execivted 


WILLIAM  ALEXA^STDER  GRAHAM  V 

upon  the  lines  laid  down  by  him,  and  the  commander,  Com- 
modore Perry,  was  selected  by  him,  though  the  expedition 
did  not  actually  set  sail  till  after  he  had  resigned.  In  1S51 
Mr.  Graham  also  sent  out  under  the  auspices  of  the  TSavy 
Department,  an  expedition  under  Lieutenant  Herndon  to 
explore  the  valley  and  sources  of  the  Amazon.  The  report 
of  this  expedition  was  published  by  order  of  Congress  in 
February,  1854,  and  was  noticed  by  the  London  ''Westmin- 
ster Review"  of  that  year,  which  bestowed  high  praise  upon 
the  author  for  his  conception,  and  the  thoroughness  and  wis- 
dom of  his  instructions  to  the  commander. 

The  great  compromise  measures  of  1850,  which  would  have 
saved  the  country  from  the  terrible  civil  war,  if  it  could 
have  been  saved,  received  strong  aid  and  support  from  the 
then  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  who  was  on  terms  of  intimacy 
and  personal  friendship  with  Clay,  Y\"ebster  and  other  leaders 
in- that  great  movement  to  stay  destructive  tendencies,  which 
proved,  ''alas,  too  strong  for  human  power."  When  the  Whig 
^N^ational  Convention  assembled  in  June,  1852,  it  placed  in 
nomination  for  the  presidency,  Winfield  Scott,  and  William 
A.  Graham  for  Vice-President.  With  a  delicacy  which  has 
been  rarely  followed  since,  he  resigned  ''to  relieve  the  admin- 
istration of  any  possible  criticism  or  embarrassment  on  his 
account  in  the  approaching  canvass,"  and  the  President 
appreciating  the  high  sense  of  delicacy  and  propriety  "which 
prompted  the  act,  accepted  his  resignation  with  unfeigned 
regret." 

It  may  well  be  doubted  if  any  of  his  predecessors,  or  suc- 
cessors, either  in  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  E'avy  or  Gov- 
ernor of  iSTorth  Carolina,  has  shown  as  much  progressiveness, 
and  as  large  a  conception  of  the  possibilities  of  his  office,  in 
widening  the  opportunities  for  development  of  the  country. 
Certainly  none  have  surpassed  him  in  the  wisdom  and  breadth 
of  his  views,  and  the  energy  displayed  in  giving  them  suc- 
cessful result.  It  is  his  highest  claim  to  fame  that  he  was 
thoroughly  imbued  with  a  true  conception  of  the  possibilities 


10  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

and  needs  of  the  time  and  his  whole  career  marks  him  as 
second  to  none  of  the  sons  whom  North  Carolina  has  given 
to  fame. 

In  1852,  after  his  retirement  from  the  Cabinet,  he  de- 
livered before  the  Historical  Society  of  New  York  his  admir- 
able and  instructive  addre^ss  upon  ''The  British  Invasion  of 
the  South  in  1780-81."  This  address  i3reserved  and  brought 
into  notice  many  historical  facts,  which  with  our  usual 
magnificent  disregard  of  the  praiseworthy  deeds  of  our  State 
had  been  allowed  to  pass  out  of  the  memory  of  men  and  the 
record  proofs  of  which  were  mouldering  and  in  danger  of 
being  totally  lost. 

Mr.  Graham  was  State  Senator  from  Orange  in  1854-55, 
took,  as  always,  a  leading  part,  and  gave  earnest  sup- 
port to  Internal  Improvements,  especially  advocating  railroad 
construction.  He  and  Governor  Morehead  headed  the  delega- 
tion to  the  Whig  Convention  in  1856  at  Baltimore,  which 
endorsed  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Fillmore.  He  was  one  of 
that  number  of  distinguished  men  from  all  sections,  who  met 
in  Washington  in  February,  1860,  and  who  in  the  vain  hope 
of  staying  the  drift  of  events  towards  a  disruption  of  the 
Union  and  Civil  War,  placed  before  the  country  the  platform 
and  the  candidates  of  the  "Constitutional  Union"  party. 

In  February,  1861,  he  canvassed  parts  of  the  State  with 
Governor  Morehead,  Judge  Badger,  Z.  B.  Vance,  and  others, 
in  opposition  to  the  call  of  a  State  Convention  to  take  the 
State  out  of  the  Union,  which  was  defeated  by  a  narrow 
margin  and  doubtless  by  their  efforts.  But  the  tide  of  events 
was  too  strong.  The  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  13  April,  1861, 
and  the  call  by  Mr.  Lincoln  upon  North  Carolina  for  her 
quota  of  75,000  men — a  call  made  without  authority — 
changed  the  face  of  affairs.  The  State  Convention  met  20 
May,  1861,  and  on  the  same  day  unanimously  pronounced 
the  repeal  by  this  State  of  the  Ordinance  of  1789  by  which 
North  Carolina  had  acceded  to  the  Federal  Union  under  the 
Constitution   of   the   United    States.      Mr.    Graham,    Judge 


WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  GRAHAM  11 

Badffer,  and  others  concurred  in  the  result,  after  first  offer- 
ing  a  resolution  (which  was  voted  down)  basing  the  with- 
drawal of  the  State,  not  upon  the  alleged  inherent  right  of 
the  State  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  at  its  will,  but  upon 
the  right  of  revolution  justified  by  the  action  of  the  Federal 
authorities. 

One  of  Mr.  Graham's  most  eloquent  and  convincing 
speeches  was  that  made  before  the  Convention  in  December, 
1861,  in  opposition  to  an  ordinance  requiring  a  universal 
test  oath,  which  was  defeated.  While  giving  to  the  Confeder- 
ate Government  his  full  support,  he  earnestly  opposed  arbi- 
trary measures  which  indicated  any  forgetfulness  of  the 
rights  of  the  citizen,  and  in  March,  1861,  he  procured  action 
by  the  Convention  which  caused  the  return  to  his  home  of  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel  in  Orange  County,  who  had  been  ille- 
gally arrested  by  military  order  and  confined  in  prison  at 
Richmond.  His  speech  against  the  test  oath  was  used  by 
Reverdy  Johnson  in  arguing  ex  -parte  Garland,  in  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court. 

In  December,  1863,  Mr.  Graham  was  elected  to  the  Senate 
of  the  Confederate  States  by  a  vote  of  more  than  two- thirds 
in  the  General  Assembly,  and  took  his  seat  in  May,  1864. 
It  was  at  a  troublous  time  and  his  counsel  was,  as  usual, 
earnestly  sought.  In  January,  1865,  after  consultation  with 
General  Lee,  and  with  his  full  approval.  Senator  Graham 
introduced  the  resolution  to  create  the  Peace  Commission, 
whose  adoption  caused  the  Hampton  Roads  Conference, 
8  February,  1865,  and  might  have  saved  the  brave  lives  so 
uselessly  sacrificed  after  that  date,  but  that  President  Davis 
declared  himself  without  power  to  come  to  any  terms  that 
would  put  an  end  to  the  Confederacy.  Thereupon  Senator 
Graham  gave  notice  that  to  save  further  useless  effusion  of 
blood  he  would  introduce  a  resolution  for  negotiations  looking 
to  a  return  to  the  Union,  but  the  notice  was  unfavorably  re- 
ceived, and  he  decided  that  the  introduction  of  the  resolution 
would  be  unavailing.    Had  it  passed,  we  might  not  only  have 


12  THE  XORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

saved  innch  useless  bloodshed,  but  have  avoided  the  unspeak- 
able horrors  of  Eeconstruction.  But  blindness  ruled  those 
in  power.  His  course  has  been  thought  like  that  of  North 
Carolina — reluctant  to  leave  the  Union,  opposed  to  unsurpa- 
tions  by  the  new  government,  willing  to  negotiate  for  honor- 
able peace  when  hope  was^gone,  but  that  being  denied,  hold- 
ing out  to  the  end.  Five  of  his  sons,  all  of  them  who  were 
old  enough,  were  in  the  Confederate  Army  to  the  end,  and 
each  of  them  was  wounded  in  battle. 

The  Confederate  Senate  adjourned  16  March,  and  on  the 
20th  he  visited  Kaleigh  at  request  of  Governor  Vance,  and 
in  the  conference  told  hiui  that  he  left  Eichmond  satisfied 
that  all  hope  for  the  success  of  the  Confederacy  had  passed; 
that  Mr.  Davis  had  declared  that  he  was  without  power  to 
negotiate  for  a  return  to  the  Union;  and  that  each  State 
could  only  do  that  for  itself ;  but  he  advised  Governor  Vance 
that  should  he  call  a  meeting  of  the  Legislature  to  consider 
such  action,  Mr.  Davis  should  be  apprised.  To  this  Governor 
Vance  assented.  But  before  further  action  could  be  taken 
the  approach  of  General  Sherman  made  it  useless.  On  12 
April,  1865,  Governor  Vance  sent  ex-Governors  Graham  and 
Swain  as  Commissioners  to  General  Sherman,  then  approach- 
ing Kaleigh,  with  a  letter  asking  a  suspension  of  arms  with 
a  view  to  a  return  to  the  Union.  The  letter  is  set  out  in 
''North  Carolina  Regimental  Histories"  Vol.  I,  page  58. 
General  Sherman  courteously  received  the  Commissioners 
but  declined  the  requested  truce.  Of  course  Governor  Gra- 
ham's course  in  this  trying  time  expressed  the  views  of  all 
those  who  saw  the  hopelessness  of  the  situation,  and  who  felt 
that  the  lives  of  the  gallant  men  who  had  served  their  coun- 
try faithfully  should  now  be  preserved  for  its  future  service 
in  days  of  peace.  He  was  not  wanting  in  this  supreme  hour 
in  the  highest  fidelity  to  the  people  that  had  honored  and 
trusted  him. 

Of  especial  interest,  showing  his  wisdom  and  foresight  are 
his  letters  to  Governor  Swain,  of  this  period,  published  in 


WILLIAM   ALEXANDER   GRAHAM.  13 

Mrs.  Spencer's  "Last  Ninety  Days  of  the  War."  He  was 
the  trusted  adviser  of  Governor  Vance,  who  in  his  life  of 
Swain  says:  "In  those  troublous  years  of  war,  I  consulted 
him  more  frequently  perhaps  than  any  other  man  in  the 
State  except  Governor  Graham,"  adding,  that  "in  him  there 
was  a  rounded  fullness  of  the  qualities,  intellectual  and  moral, 
which  constitute  the  excellence  of  manhood  in  a  degree  never 
excelled  by  any  citizen  of  ISTorth  Carolina  whom  I  have  per- 
sonally known,  except  by  William  A.  Graham."  Governor 
Graham  was  also  the  sure  reliance  of  Governor  Worth,  whose 
most  important  State  papers  are  from  his  pen. 

In  1866  Mr.  Graham  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  with  his  former  classmate  and  competitor  at  college, 
Hon.  Matthias  E.  Manly  as  colleague,  but  the  Republican 
majority  in  Congress  was  contemplating  Reconstruction  and 
they  were  refused  their  seats.  When  such  legislation  was 
enacted,  a  universal  gloom  fell  upon  the  entire  South.  In 
its  midst  a  Convention  was  called  of  all  conservative  citizens, 
irrespective  of  former  party  affiliations  to  meet  in  Raleigh, 
5  February,  1868,  over  which  Mr.  Graham  was  called  by 
common  consent  to  preside,  as  our  wisest  citizen.  His  earn- 
est, able  and  statesmanlike  speech  had  a  powerful  effect,  it 
aroused  the  people  from  despondency  and  infused  into  them 
that  spirit  of  determination  which  continued  to  grow  in 
strength  till  the  State  returned  to  the  control  of  its  native 
white  population.  In  this  speech,  he  was  the  first,  in  view 
of  the  recent  Act  of  Congress,  conferring  suffrage  upon  the 
colored  race,  to  lay  down  the  necessity  for  the  Whites  to 
stand  together,  and  he  enunciated  the  dectrine  of  "White 
Supremacy"  as  indispensable  for  the  preservation  of  civiliza- 
tion in  the  South.  While  others  favored  efforts  to  obtain 
control  or  guidance  of  the  Negro,  he,  with  a  better  knowl- 
edge of  that  race,  insisted  upon  the  solidarity  of  the  Whites 
as  our  only  hope.  The  event  has  proved  the  accuracy  of  his 
foresight.  This  speech  while  the  Convention  was  in  session 
was  as  brave  as  any  act  of  the  war. 


14  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

He  was  prominent  in  asserting  the  right  of  the  citizens  to 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  1870,  when  Judge  Pearson 
declared  the  "judiciary  exhausted" ;  and  when  Governor 
Holden  was  impeached  in  December  of  that  year,  his  was 
the  first  named  selected  among  the  eminent  counsel,  who  were 
retained  to  assist  the  managers  appointed  by  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  the  prosecution.  His  speech  was  one  of 
great  ability,  but  singularly  free  from  personal  denunciation 
of  those  w^ho  had  trodden  imder  foot  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws. 

He  was  selected  by  the  great  philanthropist,  George  Pea- 
body,  as  one  of  the  board  of  eminent  men  whom  he  requested 
to  act  as  trustees  in  administering  the  fund  donated  by  him 
to  the  cause  of  education  in  the  South,  which  had  been  so 
sorely  impoverished  by  the  war,  and  attended  its  sessions 
with  great  regularity. 

He  was  also  selected  by  Virginia  to  represent  her  upon 
the  Board  of  Arbitration  appointed  by  that  State  and  Mary- 
land to  settle  the  disputed  boundary  between  the  two  States. 

On  20  May,  1875,  he  delivered  an  address  at  Charlotte 
upon  the  celebration  of  the  Centennial  Anniversary  of  the 
Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence  and  arrayed  in  a 
masterly  manner  the  historic  evidence  of  its  authenticity. 

Among  his  many  valuable  addresses  is  that  delivered  at 
Greensboro  in  1860  upon  the  services  of  General  Nathanael 
Greene,  and  memorial  addresses  upon  the  life  and  character 
of  Judges  A.  D.  Murphey  and  George  E,  Badger  and  Chief 
Justice  Thomas  Ruffin.  His  address  at  the  State  University 
and  that  upon  the  British  Invasion  of  ISTorth  Carolina  in 
1780-81  have  already  been  mentioned.  ISTotwithstanding  his 
frequent  public  services,  in  the  intervals  he  readily  returned 
to  his  professional  duties  and  to  the  last  was  in  full  practice 
at  the  bar.  His  argument  before  Judge  Brooks  in  1870  at 
Salisbury  on  the  habeas  corpus  for  release  of  Josiah  Turner 
and  others  was  a  masterpiece. 


WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  GRAHAM  15 

He  was  nominated  by  acclamation  in  Orange  County  to 
the  State  Constitutional  Convention  of  1875.  His  declin- 
ing health  prevented  his  taking  part  in  the  canvass.  He 
issued  a  strong  address  to  his  constituents  which  was  widely 
circulated  throughout  the  State,  with  great  effect.  His  elec- 
tion was  a  matter  of  course,  but  before  he  could  take  his 
seat,  he  had  passed  beyond  earthly  honors.  He  was  at  Sara- 
toga, ]Sr.  Y.,  attending  the  session  of  the  Virginia  and  Mary- 
land Boundary  Commission  when  renewed  and  alarming 
symptoms  of  heart  trouble  appeared.  The  best  efforts  of 
medical  science  proved  unavailing,  and  he  passed  away  early 
in  the  morning  of  11  August,  1875,  being  nearly  71  years 
of  age. 

ISTumerous  meetings  of  the  Bar  and  public  bodies,  not 
only  in  North  Carolina,  but  elsewhere,  expressed  their  sense 
of  the  public  loss,  and  the  great  journals  of  the  country  re- 
sponded in  articles  expressive  of  the  national  bereavement. 
The  States  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  took  care  that  his 
remains  should  be  received  with  due  honor  and  escorted 
across  their,  borders.  At  the  borders  of  ISTorth  Carolina  they 
were  received  by  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Mayor  and 
Common  Council  of  Raleigh,  a  committee  apijointed 
by  the  bar  of  Raleigh,  and  another  by  the  authori- 
ties of  the  town  of  Hillsboro,  by  officials  and  many  promi- 
nent citizens  of  the  State  and  conveyed  by  special  train  to 
Raleigh  where  they  were  escorted  by  a  military  and  civic 
procession  to  the  Capitol,  in  whose  rotunda,  draped  for  the 
occasion,  they  lay  in  state.  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day,  attended  by  the  Raleigh  military  companies  and 
by  special  guards  of  honor,  appointed  by  cities  and  towns 
of  the  State,  and  by  the  family  of  the  deceased,  his  remains 
were  carried  by  special  train  to  Hillsboro,  where  they  were 
received  by  the  whole  population  of  the  to\\Ti  and  escorted 
to  the  family  residence,  where  they  lay  in  state  till  noon  on 
Sunday,  August  15th.  At  that  hour  they  were  conveyed  to 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  after  appropriate  funeral  sen'- 


16  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

ices  were  interred  with  solemn  ceremony,  amid  an  im- 
mense concourse  gathered  from  many  counties,  in  its  historic 
graveyard,  where  rest  the  ashes  of  William  Hooper,  A.  D. 
Murphey,  Chief  Justice  ISIash,  Judge  J^orwood,  and  many 
others,  worthily  prominent  in  the  annals  of  the  State. 

Governor  Graham  left  surviving  him  his  widow,  who  sub- 
sequently died  1  May,  1890;  seven  sons,  to  wit:  Dr.  Joseph 
Graham,  of  Charlotte  (died  August  12,  1007)  ;  Major  John 
W.  Graham,  of  Hillsboro;  Major  W.  A.  Graham,  of  Lincoln; 
Captain  James  A.  Graham  (died  in  March,  1909),  and 
Captain  Kobert  D.  Graham  (died  July,  1904),  both  resident 
in  late  years  in  Washington  City;  Dr.  George  W.  Graham, 
of  Charlotte ;  Judge  Augustus  W.  Graham,  of  Oxford ;  and 
an  only  daughter,  3usan  Washington,  \vho  married  the 
author  of  this  very  imperfect  sketch  of  his  life  and  services. 
She  died  in  Raleigh  10  December,  1909. 

Fortunate  in  his  lineage  and  the  sturdy  race  from  which 
he  sprung,  strikingly  handsome  in  person,  of  commanding 
appearance  and  stature,  courteous  in  his  bearing  toward  all, 
high  or  low,  of  high  mental  endowments,  of  a  personal  char- 
acter without  spot  or  blemish,  true  to  all  men,  and  therefore 
true  to  himself,  possessed  of  undaunted  courage,  moral  and 
physical,  with  remarkable  soundness  of  judgment,  conserva- 
tive in  his  views,  but  ])rogressive  in  his  public  action,  abun- 
dant in  services  to  his  State  and  to  his  country,  holding  the 
entire  respect  of  all  and  the  hatred  of  no  one,  J^orth  Caro- 
lina has  laid  to  rest  in  her  bosom  no  son  greater  or  more 
worthy  than  William  A.  Graham.  His  fame  will  grow 
brighter  as  the  records  are  examined  and  weighed  in  the  cold, 
clear,  impartial  light  of  the  future. 

To  North  Carolinians,  the  name  of  William  A.  Graham 
is  the  synonym  of  high  character  and  true  service,  and  in 
rendering  to  him  and  his  memory  high  honor,  the  people  of 
the  State  have  indicated  those  traits  of  character  which  most 
strongly  command  their  approbation. 

Stat  nominis  umbra. 


